Brush or mop.



F. H. FRENCH.

BRUSH 0R MOP.

' APPLIGATION FILED DBO. so, 1913.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

' ll do hereby declare rnann n. rnnucn, or rnnsrou, Iowa ennsn on iron.

intranet,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 123, 1914..

Application filed December 30, 1913. Serial No. 809,536.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, FRANK H. FRENCH, citizen of the United States, residin at Preston, in the county of Jackson and tate of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brushes or Mops; and i the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to cleaning imple I ments, and more particularly to the class of mops .or brushes fibers so as to render them substantially dustless when used for cleaning and polishing floors and other wood-work.

@ne object of my invention is to provide simple means for securing the fibers of a mop ,or brush to a support in such relation thereto asto press the ends of the fibers simultaneously and in substantially a common plane to the door or other wood-work engaged thereby when the brush is in use.

@ther objects are to provide means for distributing oil or polish gradually and fairly uniformly over the fibers comprising the brush or mop,

I ing rim to avoid the marrinp of walls or furhead of the mop.

Further objects-will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure -1 is a fragmentary view,

niture by contact with the partly in section, showing a mop embodying my invention. Fig. -2-- is a plan view of the same with portions of the handle and of the adjoining parts shown section. Fig. -3- is a fragmentary sectional view through the head of the mop showing an alternative embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings, the mop or brush of my invention consists of a series of fibers I or act1ve members 1 strung or looped over an annular member 2, which member preferably consists of a ring having at one edge a pair of parallel arms or prongs 3 extendmg outwardly of the ring and at an angle with the plane thereof. Resting 'upon the looped portions of the fibers ,1 is a cushionlug-member 4: consisting preferably of a disk of felt or similar material adapted both to give a cushioning effect and to be slowly permeated by oil or liquid polish. Resting having oil applied to their and to provide a cushion- I clamping members,

upon the cushioning member 4; is a metal cap 7,. consisting preferably of a metal disk having the central portion thereof raised above the plane of the outerportions thereof so as to form a chamber raised portion and the top of the cushioning member 4. Pivotally secured to the said raised portion of the cap member and normally covering a central .erforation therein is a cover 9 which is a apted by its pivotal mounting to. be swung out of its normal position (as shown by dotted lines in Fig. -.2) to permit access to the said chamber 8. The cushioning member 4: and the cap 7 which both covers and reinforces the same are simultaneously secured tothe supporting member 2 by suitable fastening means, such ,as the bolts 5,

When 'inuse, the mop or brush is manipu- 8 between the said lated' by a wooden handlelO secured to the supporting member 2 of the mop by any suitablemeans, and preferably by the interchangeable clamping means shown and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 758,709, filed April 3, 1918. This fastoning, as shown in Figs. 1 and -2- consists essentially of a pair of metal clamping members. 11 having their opposed faces concaved to match-the curvature of the bandle 10 and having recesses adapted to receive the said prongs orarms 3 between the respective clamping members 11 and'the opposibe sides of to the'common axis of t e handle and the so that the angle between the axis of the handle and the active face of the brush or mop may be varied by inverting the position of the handle with respect to the prongs. By using such an interchangeable fastening, it will be evident from Fig. 1- that the handle may either be disposed at such an angle as to avoid stooping on the part of the user of. the mop, or at another angle (shown in dotted lines in Fig. -1) permitting the mop to be used upon floors under radiators and various articles of low furniture.

Before using the mop, the swinging cover 9 may be swung out of alinement with the opening in the cap piece, thereby'permitting the chamber 8 to be filled with a suitablc oil' or polish which will gradually perthe handle 10, the said recesses being angularly dis oscd with respect meate the oil-distributing disk 4 and the looped portions of the fibers in contact therewith. By thus interposing a thick layer of felt or other cushioning material I cause the oil or polish to work gradually through the fibers ofthe mop, thereby maintaining a continuous supply of the oil or polish for the active portions of the mop. Ihe rate'at which the oil or polish will thus be supplied to the fibers may be varied by using felt of various degrees of compression, but I preferably use a felt much less permeable by oil I or polish than the fibers. Moreover, by

making the contact between .the cushioning and oil-distributing member 4 and the fibers of the mop with the. looped portions of the latter I cause'thebil or polish to be supplied simultaneously to both ends of each loop of fiber, instead of having a preponderance of the oil or polish upon the 1nner portions of the mop as has heretofore been customary with devices of this kind. I am, therefore, able to secure a much more even distribution of the liquid over the active face of the brush or mop than has been possible with the constructions heretofore in use. Moreover, by interposing the pervious member 4 between the fibers and the receptacle for the oil or polish, I prevent the latter from being fed to the active face of the brush or mop in such quantities as would spot or grease rugs or other textiles with which the fibers of my cleaning implement may come into contact.

It will be evident that any violent contact of the edges of the cap with furniture would tend to scratch or mar the'same. I, therefore, preferably make the oil-distributing member-4 of somewhat larger diameter than the said cap, so that the projecting peripheral portion of the said member 4 will act as a cushion or bumper to avoid the damaging offurniture by contact with the edge portions of the head of the mop.

In assembling my cleaning implement, I preferably tighten the bolts 5 with sufiicient force to compress the portion of the per vious member 4' covered by the cap 7, thereby causing the edge portions of the said member to bulge out above the to of the rim portions of the said cap, as s own in Figs. 1 and 3. However, I do not wish to be'limited to this combination of a stiffening or reinforcing cap for the oil-distributing member and of a cushioning periphery of the latter extending both laterally and vertically beyond the edges of the former, nor to the recise fastening means or other details of t e construction herein disclosed, it 1 being obvious that the latter may be varied in many respects without departing from the'spirit of my invention. Thus, instead of securing the annular member 2 to the cap member 7 by bolts passing through perforations in the member 2 and equipped with nuts adjacent to the last-named member, the member 2 may be engaged by the hook ends of bolts equipped with nuts ex posed upon the upper surface of the cap 7, as shown in Fig. 3.

I claim as my invention 1. A cleaning implement comprising a handle, an annular member secured thereto, a plurality of fibers looped over the said annular member, a disk of cushioning material bearing with one face against the looped portions of the said fibers, a cap member bearing against the other side of the said disk, and fastening means connecting the said-members and extendin through the said disk and clamping the bers and the cushioning disk therebetween.

2. A cleaning implement comprising a handle, an annular member secured thereto, a plurality of fibers looped over the said annular member, a disk of pervious ma "terial bearing with one face against the looped portions of the said fibers, an apertured cap member bearing against the other side of the said disk,fa' stening means connectingcthe said members and clamping the fibers and the pervious disk therebetween, and a movable cover for the aperture in the said cap member, the portion of the cap memberadjacent to the said aperture being raised to form an oil receptacle between gheksaid cap member andthe said pervious 3. A cleaning implement comprising a a movable cover for the aperture in the said cap member, the said aperture permitting access to the upper face of the said pervious disk for the application of oil or polish thereto.

'4. In a brush or mop, a handle, an annular' member attached thereto, a brush member carried by the said annular member, an oil-distributing disk contacting with the brush member; a reinforcing disk for the said oil-distributing disk, the latter rojecting laterally beyond the said rein orcing disk, the projecting portions adapted to act as a cushioning bumper for the brush or mop;. and means for securing the said reinforcing and oil-distributing disks and the said brush member to the said annular member.

5. A cleaning lmplement including an an-.

nular member, a plurality of fibers looped over the same, a pervious member engaging loop portions of the said fibers, and a cap member reinforcing the said pervious member, the said cap and pervious members being relatively so shaped as to afford a chamber therebetween for receiving oil.

6. A cleaning implement including an annular member, a plurality of fibers looped over the same, a pervious member engaging loop portions of the said fibers, and fastening means for securing the said fibers to 10 the pervious member, the latter being less rapldly permeated by oil than the said fibers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK H. FRENCH.

Witnesses:

ALBERT S HEIBLE, M. M. BOYLE. 

